Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-02-02
CHAPTER II.


CHAPTER II.
Eagles Court, one Of the highest canyons Of
the Sierras, was in reality plateau Of tabla
land, embayed like q green lake in u semi
circular sweep of granite, that, lifting itself
5000 feet higher, became foundation for
the eternal SHOWS. The mountain genii Of
space and atmosphere jealously guarded its
seclusion and surrounded it with illusions; it
never looked to be exactly what it was; the
traveller who saw it from the North ridge
apparently at his feet in descending found
himself separated from it by mile long
abyss and rushing river; those who sought
it by seeming direct trail ut the end Of
an hour lost sight Of it completely, or,
abandoning the quest and retracing their
steps, suddenly came upon the gap through
which it was entered. That which from the
ridge appeared to be a copse of bushes be-
side the tiny dwelling were trees 800 feet
high; the cultivated lawn before it, which
might have been covered by the travellers
handkerchief, was field of ], 900 acres.
The house itself was long, low, irregular
structure, chiefly Of roof and veranda, pict-
uresquely upheld by rustic pillars Of pine.
with the bark still adhering, and covered
with vines and trailing roses. Yet it was
evident that the GOODNESS produced by this
vast extent Of cover was more than the ar
chitect, who had planned it under the influ-
ence of staring and bewildering sky, bad
trustfully conceived, for it had to be miti-
gated by blazing fires in open hearths when
the thermometer marked 100 degrees in the
field beyond. The dry, restless wind that
continually rocked the tall masts of the
pines with q sound like the distant sea, while
it stimulated outdoor physical exefrion and''
defed fatigue, left the sedentary dwellcrs in
these attitudes chilled in the shade they
courted, or scorched them with heat when
they ventured to bask supinely in the sun.
White muslin curtains at the French win
dows, and rugs, skins and heavy furs dis
persed in the interior, with certain other
charming but incongruous details of furni-
ture, marked the inconsistencies of the eli
mate.
There was coquettish indication OF this
in the costume of Miss Kate Scott as she
stepped out OH the veranda that morning.
A mans broad-brimmed Panama hat, partly
unsexed by twisted, gayly colored scarf,
but retaining enough character to give
piquancy to the pretty curves of the face
beneath, protected her from the sun; red
flannel shirt-another spoil from the enemy
and thick JACKIE shielded her from the
austerities of the morning breeze But the
next inconsistency was peculiarly her own.
Miss Kate always wore tho freshest and
liehtest of white cambria skirts, without the
least reference to the temperature. To the
practical sanatory remonstrances of her
brother-in-law, and to the conventional
criticism of her sister, she opposed the same
defense: allow else is one to tell when it is
summer in this ridiculous climate? Ard
then, wooden is stuffy, color draws the sun,
and one ut least knows when one is clean or
dirty" Artistically the result was far from
unsatisfactory. 1t was pretty figure under
the somber pines, against the gray granite
and the steely sky, and seemed to lend the
yellowing fields from which the flowers had
already fed floral relief of color do not
think the few masculine wayfarers Of that
locality objected to it; indeed, some had
betrayed an indiscreet admiration, and had
curiously followed the invitation of Miss
Kate's warmly colored figure until they had
encountered the inyincible indifference Of
Miss Kates cold gray eyes. With these
manifestations her brother-in-law did not
concern himself; he had perfect confidence
in her unqualified dislntcrest in the neigh
boring humanity, and permitted her to
wander in her solitary picturesqueness, or
accompanied her when she rode in her dark
green habit, with equal freedom from
anxiety.
For Miss Scott, although only 90, had
already subjected most of her maidenly illu-
sions to mature critical analyses. She had
voluntarily accompanied her sister and
mother to California, in the earnest hope
that nature contained something worth say
ing to her, and was disappointed to find she
had already discounted its value in the pages
of books. She hoped to find vague free
dom in this unconventional life thus opened
to her, or rather to show others that she
knew how intelligently to appreciate it, but
as yet she was only able to express it in the
one detail of dress already alluded to. Some
of the men, and nearly all of the women, she
had met thus far, she was amazed to find,
valued the convcntionalities she believed she
despise,, and were voluntarily assuming the
chains she thought she had thrown off. In
stead of learning anything from them, these
children of nature had bored her with eager
questionings regarding the civilization she
had abandoned, or irritated her with crude
limitations Of it for her benefit. Fancy"
she had written to friend in Boston, "my
calling on Sue Murphy, who remembered the
Donner tragedy and who once shot n grizzly
that was prowing round her cabin, and
think Of her begging mc to lend her my sack
for pattern, und wanting to know if polo
nays were still worm" She remembered
more bitterly the romance that had tickled
her earlier fancy, told of two college friends
Of her brother-in-law's who were living the
perfect life" III the mines, laboring in the
bitches with copy of Homer in their pockets,
and writing letters Of the purest philosophy
under the free dir Of the pines. How, COM
ing Unexpectedly on them in their Arcadia,
the party found them unpresentable through
dirt, and thenceforth unknowable through
domestic complications that had filled their
Arcadian cabin with hnlf-brcd children.
Much of this disillusion she had kept
within her own heart, from feeling of
pride, or only lightly touched upon it in her
relations with her mother and sister. For
Mrs. Hale and Mrs Scott had no idols to